For organizers, the need for the walkout – the second at the high school following the Florida shooting – came to life on Friday when three Reston schools were under a lockdown after students reported they saw another student with a gun. Police determined the report was false.

Students like Sophia Liao, Zachary Schonfeld and Dora Ahearn-Wood said they want legislators to go beyond tweeting thoughts and prayers by passing legislation to prevent gun violence.

“We should feel safe in our schools, and not have to worry if we are next. Just last Friday, we got lucky. The lockdown was quickly found to be a false alarm through the diligent work of school administration and police. But we should not have to live in a place where we have to see our friends texting and calling their families, terrified for their lives. This is not normal, and it needs to change,” Liao said.

The walkout will be the second for South Lakes High School students. Last month, more than 200 students stepped out of class in the middle of the day to remember victims of the Parkland shooting.

On Wednesday, students plan to stand outside for 17 minutes to honor each victim of the shooting. The walkout will also include remarks and chants from student organizers, according to a release by the South Lakes Young Democrats club.

Although the club is organizing the walkout, organizers said participants are from varying political backgrounds and the walkout is a school-wide initiative. Students also plan to initiate a “call to action” by encouraging participants to vote, call their elected representatives and become involved in political discourse.

“We might not all be experts on gun policy, but we do know that the current status quo is not working,” organizers said.

I stand by everything I said. This behavior is not respectable. It is manipulated.

Conservative Senior

These kids are pawns & are being manipulated.

Reston1

So you are saying that teachers should tolerate shootings in their workplace?

Scott

If I was a teacher, I’d demand that my employer protect the school and cease implementing a policy that makes the school a soft target that leaves me unprotected.
No law or policy will ever prevent someone who really wants to do harm from attempting it, but you CAN put measures in place to counter anyone that tries.

Much like economics, liberals are always trying to manipulate the wrong side of the equation.

Reston1

Great! Then the State can raise your taxes by 100% since the employer is Virginia and then they can pay for your armored campus solution.
Since it’s just simple economics to you, what’s your zero dollar solution? And good work letting your bias interpret things that weren’t stated.

Scott

Yeah. It’s me letting bias interpret things that weren’t stated. Uh-huh. You should re-read my comment.
1 the employer is the county, not the state so you are wrong on the most basic point.
2. Where did I say anything about cost?
3. The economics comment is an analogy. You might remember these from the SATs.

Willie Reston

Let’s keep it simple for Scott here: how do you propose to pay for added security at public schools?

DontTreadonMe

Cut back on the ESL budget? Tons of money being wasted right there. Same for special education.

Willie Reston

In what ways is the money being wasted? Or are you suggesting the entire programs are a waste? Methinks it’s the latter…

Proud Conservative

So you don’t want to protect our kids?

Proud Conservative

Exactly Scott. These Gun Free Zones must end. My son goes to SLHS and was comforted by the show of force by the police (with guns!).

Mike M

I don’t recall saying that. I am saying they ought to understand the Second Amendment and the fact that kids being disruptive and most of the proposals would not have stopped any of the high profile killings. Remember, murder is already against the law. While owning firearms is protected by the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. These kids are far more likely to be killed in a car wreck, by drugs or alcohol, or disease. Paint that on your sign and protest it.

Willie Reston

Yeah, and I bet all these kids are paid actors, too. George Soros must be paying them to say and do these things. You’re really onto them, Mikey! Keep digging!

Mike M

I stand by what I said. Not by the words you pretended that I said so that you can biker with me at your low level of discourse.

Scott

For what? Skipping 17 min of class, demanding something that would make absolutely no impact on the “safety” of their school? The adults in these students lives are doing them a tremendous disservice.

guest

Were you aware that these students just endured a 30-minute lockdown? Not a drill. Thirty minutes of uncertainty and worry. Some students huddled under desks in classrooms with no windows, no lights, and no talking for 30 minutes. Children were escorted by police into the auditorium. How do you think they felt?

I would say that this matter hits a little closer to home after last week’s false alarm. This issue is very real for them. Let them decide what is important to them and what they wish to stand up for. This could have an impact on school safety at SLHS, because there were some lessons learned that day, for sure.

As for the missed instruction time that some people are talking about, give me a break. One missed hour at most. Some things are worth it. Like someone’s life. What a parent of a student killed at Sandy Hook wouldn’t give to have their child back for even one more hour.

Scott

What does that story have to do with setting policy?

RestonAssurance

These old has-beens with dissenting comments never had to deal with this when they were in school. They couldn’t comprehend.

Proud Conservative

Some of us grew up during the Cold War and we had plenty of drills and everyone worried about nuclear war. So you don’t know what you;re talking about. Did the cops investigate the kids who made the claims about a gunman in the school? Maybe they were trying to push an agenda. Most of these kids talking about “gun control” sound like the idiots on MSNBC and CNN.

SLHS Student

Maybe if hundreds of your classmates throughout the country and you feared your life every time you went it to school everyday you would be a little angry as well. These ‘kids’ just want someone to actually care about people who aren’t even old enough to drive being killed without any change to prevent it happening again. Also I don’t know if you recall but nobody in the US was killed by nuclear bombs during the cold war. And just so you know, the lockdown happened because the rumored gunman was not found in their scheduled class and police were trying to track them down. Not that you bothered to check.

Willie Reston

Wrong on both counts.

Scott

As usual, you make a compelling argument Willie!

Willie Reston

No argument is needed to show how off the mark you are so I didn’t even bother.

RestonAssurance

Your ill informed comment shows that you’re not in the know with how the walkout works. They don’t skip class.

Jay

May not have to agree with the thought, but in this day in age, thank God there is actual independent thought. I’ve got 2 kids there, both taking a solid class load, both in sports, and both crushing it in the amazing JROTC program. It’s a solid school.

Don’t know if either of them will or will not participate – we discussed it, and I made it clear that my only expectation is that whatever choice they make, they make it on their own volition. What you or I think on this walkout doesn’t matter – one thing I’ll never say to them would be “don’t participate – it’s meaningless.” That’ll only teach them that they have no agency to affect their world, however it is defined.

Some of these kids will be sincere, some will be doing it because their friends are doing it, and some will just want to get out of class. That’s fine. No one ever made a difference by sitting if front of a TV screen.

Donald

I agree. What you or I think doesn’t matter. And to think, they’ll be voting in just a few years.

Donald

Reston2244

Very well said and couldn’t agree more.

Willie Reston

Nailed it.

Scott

Respect your opinion, but flip side is this. The policies the #Timesup crowd and all gun controllers push would not prevent the vast majority of school attacks. Your teenagers don’t understand this. Parents need to educate and guide and then allow kids to make choices.

Jay

I hear you, Scott, and I’m not here to debate gun control.
That said, I’m so proud that these kids are involved in what they feel is important. As for my own kids, if I didn’t think that they couldn’t reason or think for themselves, then I wouldn’t let them drive a car, let alone trust them to safely handle a firearm.

Donald

Very proud the students, teachers, staff and parents have come together on this.

Donald

Shadow Governor

Stuffy air in those places, fresh air should help improve productivity. Mass hypnosis not withstanding.